the open road - day drives

I am glad they both had a good time. The weather was kind to them, dry, if not warm, but they had the right clothing on and our Caterham does have a very effective heater. They returned with huge grins on their faces and said they only stopped driver for a fairly brief lunch.

I am glad you had a good day out in our MGB Roadster. The familiarisation trip around the block wasn't that I don't trust Yanks to drive on the correct side of the road. We take all our customers out round the block to make sure you are familiar with the clutch biting point, overdrive (which not everyone has experienced) and more importantly the lack of a servo on the brakes and lack of power steering - which most people have on all modern cars nowadays.When we first started The Open Road back in 1997 we always hoped we would attract US customers as about 75% of the production of MGs, Triumphs and Jaguars were exported to the US and you have always been keen on our LBCs (Little British Cars). Our very first customer was an American flew his girlfriend over from the US to propose to her - so it was good to see another of our American cousins enjoying our cars and the quiet lanes of Warwickshire and The Cotswolds.

Once in a lifetime day out in my all time dream car. Tony was helpful and communicative and an obvious enthusiast. The service that he provided was excellent and we had an absolutely brilliant day in this beautiful and immensely characterful car. We drove through the Cotswolds, across to Ross on Wye and then back through the Malvern Hills, She didn't miss a beat. A day to cherish for a very long time.

Julie, well done to you for keeping it a surprise until you arrived at the front gate and we are glad the day went well. I still the Mustang V8 burble is better than that of a Triumph Stag! I look forward to seeing you again at the NEC.

I am glad you both enjoyed yourself in the Mustang for the day. Elaine is responsible for the excellent quality of the picnics, having been catering in one form or another for over 30 years.

My wife has been in love with Austin Healey 3000s since the age of sixteen (she is now sixty two) and is the first car that she looks at when attending a classic car show. When we were courting in the 1970s I owned an Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite. We always hoped that it would grow up to be a 3000 but it never did. While I was watching a classic car programme on the TV recently they suggested that if you were thinking of buying a classic car why not hire one for the day. I was not thinking of buying a Healey 3000 as now I could never afford to own one, but thought the idea of hiring one for the day would make a terrific surprise for my wife's birthday. There are quite a number of firms that will hire out classic cars but very few have a Healey 3000 in their fleet. This is where Tony of The Open Road came up trumps. From the start of my dealings with him he made sure that every facet of the surprise was maintained. Right up until the moment we drove onto his premises and he drove the car out of the garage my wife had no idea what was going to happen.After explaining to us both all the controls and highlighting the foibles of the car (it is fifty one years old!) and as my wife was to be the main driver of the car Tony took her on a familiarisation drive before letting us loose with the car for the rest of the day. Our first place of visit was to the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon. What finer car could one arrive in?

I hired their E-Type for a weekend of driving in the Cotswolds. What a fantastic experience! As an American driving in the UK for the first time, Tony was very helpful in answering all my questions and making sure I had all the info I needed. He even picked me up from the train station on the day of my hire. That leads us to the car. Simply amazing! The car was in impeccable condition and drove wonderfully. This car really turns heads. I got numerous compliments and waves along the way. I highly recommend hiring this car from The Open Road.

My fab wife organised me to have an E-Type Jag for a day from Tony. We arrived at Tony's and he showed me round the very smart E-Type, he took me on a short familiarisation drive and then my wife and I were off for the day driving round the Cotswolds, roof down taking in the scenery and that lovely Jag engine note. Very efficient service, very nice guy and certainly loves his classics. We had a brilliant day and the car was faultless. Would recommend without hesitation.

My booking with Tony to hire the Austin Healey was made as a surprise for my wife and was managed by Tony very professionally and discreetly. It was obvious even at this early stage that Tony has been in the business of hiring classic cars for many years. On the day of the hire Tony explained every thing about the car and went for a short drive with my wife driving, just to make sure that she was comfortable with everything. The car was absolutely beautiful and didn't put a foot wrong the whole day and we were fortunate enough to have the roof of for all but 10 minutes of our day. The hire time was from 9am until 8pm, but best of all there is no milage limit. We had a wonderful day driving around beautiful countryside in a stunning car, if you have ever considered hiring a classic car both my wife and myself would strongly recommend Tony (he has quite a collection) a five star service run by a enthusiasts who has thought of everything to make your day or days very special. Thank you again TonyRegards Janice & Mark

I hired a TR6 from The Open Road for my husbands 40th birthday. I had booked with another company, but they let me down days before the event. The Open Road offered me the TR6 and quickly sorted all the paperwork so that everything was ready in time. The car was in great condition and was very popular with adults and children alike. What was especially good was the fact that there was no mileage limit, unlike most of the other companies who restrict you to 100 miles or so. Thoroughly recommended! Catherine

Glad you had a good weekend with both the Austin Healey and Antony and Cleopatra.

Thanks for a wonderful review. I would hope it was actually the bride who stole the show and would be happy for our Mustang to come second. I do understand the need to entertain the guests, the Mustang does attract a lot of attention.

...forget ABS and power steering, this is real driving! I had a fabulous 4 day birthday hire in the 1965 Mustang Convertible. Thanks to Tony's calm and easy handover she was a dream to drive, even around villages. And when you do put your foot down she really did shift! Respect is needed though with the drum brakes. Fabulous time had by us both, thank you so much. Life is that little bit sweeter after hearing that V8....And we even took the lid down in October!!Clare

I am glad you had such a good day and well done to Jason for getting you here as a complete surprise with you knowing absolutely nothing about it until you came through our gate. Normally it is the ladies that organised the surprises for their husbands / partners. The men are normally rubbish at keeping secrets.I enjoyed seeing the look on your face as we explained the plan for the day.

I am glad you both a good time with the MGB. I think your review title 'Four days in 1969' sums it up really well. We aren't just hiring out classic cars, our plan is very much to give you the experience of 1969 or the year of whichever car you choose.